Gross Negligence Manslaughter Template Flashcards
Prima facie D could be…
Charged with involuntary manslaughter if he has caused the death of V through gross negligence.
R v Adomako sets out a 5 stage test.
Firstly…
The prosecution must prove a duty of care existed.
Normal principles in civil law apply in terms of establishing a duty of care as established in Donoghue v Stevenson and further developed in Caparo v Dickman.
Application 1
Establish how the duty of care has arisen and consider voluntarily taking in responsibility, R v Stone and Dobinson and creating a dangerous situation, R v Miller and R v Evan’s.
Secondly…
D must have breached this duty. He will be judged by the standards of reasonable men.
Application 2
Establish how D has breached their duty
Thirdly….
This breach of duty must have exposed V to a risk of death confirmed in R v Mirsa.
Application 3
Here the beach of duty exposed V to a risk of because….
Fourthly….
The beach must have caused the death.
Application 4
Here apply rules of causation and established whether the breach caused the death
Finally….
The jury must decide whether D acted with gross negligence.
The questions to be asked if the jury is derived from R v Baetman and is ‘was Ds conduct so bad in all the circumstances having regard to the risk of death, to amount to gross negligence manslaughter and a crime against the state?’
In R v Edward’s allowing two 7 year olds to play on a railway bridge did show such disregard for life as to amount to gross negligence manslaughter.
Whereas in R v Finlay a scout leader who failed to follow safety procedures on a trip to Snowden was not found to have acted grossly negligently.
Application 5
Was D grossly negligent or not?
In conclusion…
D is guilty/ not guilty of gross negligence manslaughter.
